Signature reversing apparatus



Feb. 25, 1969 c. VELLA SIGNATURE REVERSING APPARATUS Sheet of Filed Aug. 23. 1967 R m. TL NE EV .W c

Feb. 25, 1969 c. VELLA SIGNATURE REVERSING APPARATUS Sheet Filed Aug. 23. 1967 FIG.3.

INVENTOR. CARL VELLA United States Patent 3,429,569 SIGNATURE REVERSING APPARATUS Carl Vella, Floral Park, N.Y., assignor to R. Hoe & Co.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A signature reversing apparatus having a sliding stop pan mounted adjacent to the exit end of a delivery table of a folder for newspapers, magazines or the like, for being slid into a vertical position so that the signatures are piled up vertically as they stream from the delivery table with the folded end first. A friction roller and a vertically disposed pair of belts for grabbing the piled up papers one by one open end first and to deliver the Signatures from the apparatus open end first rather than folded end first as was the case when they came off the delivery table.

Background of the invention This invention relates to a device for receiving articles delivered from a folded of a printing press unit folded end first and for reversing those articles in such a way that they exit from this device open end first.

In the production of magazines in particular, the folded printed matter is typically delivered from the printing press and folder units folded end first in horizontal overlapping relation. This folded printed matter, referred to as signatures, is delivered to the bindery for stapling and stacking. It has been found that to facilitate the binding and stacking operations it would be most advantageous to deliver the signatures to the bindery in vertical stacks folded end upward. In other situations it has been found desirable to entirely reverse the position of the signatures such that they leave the printing press and folder units open end first rather than folded end first.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a relatively inexpensive and simple device for accomplishing reversal of signatures which are delivered from a folder unit.

Another object of this invention is to provide a signature reversing apparatus which can be attached to and used on almost any existing folder unit without having to make major modifications to the unit, and which is independent of the delivery speed of the folder.

Various other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description, and the novel features will be pointed out hereinafter in the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the present invention in its inoperative position;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the present invention in its operative position with parts broken away depicting a continuous stream of folded signatures being delivered from the folder; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 1 with the stop pan shown in phantom.

Description of the preferred embodiment of this invention As shown in the drawings, the apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention incorporates side frames 10, 11 strapped to a delivery table 12 of a folder unit, y means of a bracket 13. The delivery table typically carries a shaft 15 which supports a plurality of pulleys 16 for carrying the delivery conveyors 14 which carry and transport the folded signatures 17 from the folder. In order to operate the present invention a double sprocket wheel 18 is mounted on shaft 15. Sprocket wheel 18 is driven at the same speed as the delivery conveyors.

Rotatably supported between the side frames 10, 11 is a shaft 19 which supports at least one belt pulley 20 and probably more than one depending on the delivery table arrangement. In the arrangement shown, two such pulleys are preferred. Supported between brackets 27 which are attached to the side frames is another shaft 21 for supporting a number of belt pulleys 22 which are equal to the number of belt pulleys 20. FIG. 3 shows that in this embodiment there are two sets of belt pulleys 20 and 22. This number however can easily be varied as can the distance between the side frames 10, 11 so as to e adapted to a different delivery table arrangement. A belt 29, preferably of rubber is supported between the pulleys 20 and 22; this belt has a ridged or cleated surface.

Spaced parallel from belt 29 is a second belt 30 which is supported between belt pulleys 24 and 26. Belt pulley 26 is mounted on rotatable shaft 25 which is supported between frames 10, 11 and belt pulley 24 is supported on shaft 23 which is supported between brackets 28 which are attached to frames 10, '11.

As seen in FIG. 3, this particular embodiment employs two sets of belts 29 and 30; however, for a different width of delivery table one set might be sufiicient.

Secured on shaft 21 is a sprocket wheel 31. Sprocket wheels 18 and 31 carry a drive chain 35 for driving the belt 29. Rotatably mounted on a bracket 37 which is attached to one side frame 1'1 is sprocket wheel 33 which supports a second drive chain 36 carried between wheel 33 and the other half of sprocket wheel 18. Chain 36 also passes over and engages a sprocket wheel 32 mounted on shaft 23 which causes rotation of shaft 23, belt pulleys 24 and 26 and thereby drive belt 30 in a direction opposite to that of belt 29.

Attached to each of the side frames is a pair of guide blocks 38 and 39. Guide block 38 is disposed at an obtuse angle to the surface of the delivery table and has a slot extending approximately half of its length. Guide block 39 is disposed approximately horizontally with the surface of the delivery table and has a slot which extends across its entire length.

A stop pan 40 is supported on a pair of blocks 43 :which are mounted on roller wheels 44 which roll in the slots of the guide blocks 38 and 39. The stop pan 40 can therefore be rolled from its position as shown in FIG. 1 to its position as shown in FIG. 2 by exerting a force on it such that the roller wheel 44 in the slot of guide block 39 will roll from its maximum position on the right to its maximum position on the left, and the roller Wheel 44 in the slot of guide block 38 will roll upwardly. The slot in guide block 38 only extends half of its length so as to act as a stop for the roller wheel riding in it so as to prevent the stop pan 40 from sliding out of the guide blocks. The stop pan 40 has fingers 41 which extend below and between the delivery belts 14 so as to allow the signatures to ride up on the stop pan as the signatures come off the belts, and to prevent the signatures from getting caught underneath the pan. The number of fingers is also determined by the delivery table arrangement. As seen in FIG. 3, the stop pan of this embodiment has three such fingers. As the signatures 17 are carried from the folder they begin to pile up on the stop pan '40 and cause it to move from its position in FIG. 1 to its final position in FIG. 2, such that the papers pile up in a vertical stack. To facilitate the piling up of the signatures in a vertical stack a guide surface 47 shown in FIG. 2,

is mounted on a block 48 which is mounted on shaft 19. The number of these guide surfaces which will be required is again determined by the arrangement of the delivery table and the 'width of the papers. As shown in FIG. 3 this embodiment employs two such surfaces.

Fixedly attached between the frames 10, 11 is another shaft 45 which carries rotatably mounted friction wheel 46. Friction wheel 46 is rotatably driven by sprocket wheel 34 which also engages drive chain 36.

Stop pan 40 is provided with an opening 42 through which friction wheel 46 slightly extends and makes contact with the first signature which is resting against stop pan 40.

Operation FIG. 2 shows the device of this invention in operation.

The signatures 17 are delivered from the folder carried by delivery belts 1 4 in the direction of the arrow folded end Ifirst. In order to accomplish reversal of the signatures such that they are delivered open end first, the signatures will begin to pile up against stop pan 40 in a vertical pile with the folded end on top. When the force of the signatures against the stop pan is sufficient it will roll into its ultimate position by virtue of the roller wheels 44 in the slots of their respective guide blocks 38 and 39, until the stop pan is so disposed as to be aligned with the parallel belts 29 and 30. Friction wheel 46 extending through the opening 42 of the stop pan will make contact with the first signature and since it is rotating in the direction of the arrow it will force the first signature downrwardly along the stop pan until the open end of the signature is in contact with the parallel belts. The parallel belts driven by chains and 36, in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows, will grab the signature open end first and move it downwardly between the belts until it is finally delivered open end first.

When the first signature is removed, the next one will now be in contact with the friction wheel 46 which will likewise force it downwardly until it too is grabbed and delivered by the parallel belts. The bridges on belt 29 tend to fan the signatures as they pile up on the pan thereby insuring that only one signature at a time is grabbed by belts 29 and 30. When the last signature in a batch is so delivered and there is no longer any weight on the stop pan it will roll down to its initial position ready for the next batch.

As can be understood the present invention provides a simple device which can easily be adapted to almost any existing folder for reversing the signatures delivered therefrom. It is easy to manufacture, assemble, and adapt, and it is independent of the speed of the delivery table because all its moving parts are driven at the same speed as the delivery table by the chain means.

What is claimed is:

1. A signature reversing apparatus comprising a frame, receiving means attached to said frame for receiving and piling in a vertical stack folded signatures as they stream from the folder of a printing machine folded end first, said receiving means comprising a pair of guides mounted on said frame, and a pan having an opening slidably mounted in said guides adjacent the exit end of the folder of the printing machine whereby the stream of signatures piles up on the pan causing it to slide into a vertical position, and means mounted on said frame for grabbing said signatures open end first and delivering said signatures with open end first rather than with folded end first thereby reversing the position of said signatures.

2. The signature reversing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said means for grabbing and delivering said signatures comprises a friction wheel rotatably mounted on said frame and projecting through said opening in the pan thereby contacting the signature resting against said pan for urging said signature downwardly as said wheel rotates, means for rotating said friction wheel at the same speed that the signatures are delivered from the folder of the printing machine, a pair of spaced parallel extending belts mounted on said frame for grabbing the downwardly urged signature and passing it therebetween for delivery in a reversed position, and means for driving said belts in opposite directions and at the same speed that the signatures are delivered from the printing machine.

3. The signature reversing apparatus according to claim 2 wherein one of said parallel extending belts has a ridged surface for separating said signatures whereby said belts grab said signatures one by one.

4. The signature reversing apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said folded signatures are delivered from the folder of the printing machine open end first and delivered from said belts folded end first.

5. A signature reversing apparatus comprising a frame to be attached to a delivery table of a printing machine folder, a. pair of guide blocks attached to said frame, a pan slidably mounted in said guide blocks adjacent to the exit end of said delivery table for receiving the folded signatures folded end first as they stream off the delivery table, said pan having an opening, said pan sliding into a substantially vertical position as said signatures pile up on said pan thereby forming a vertical stack of said signatures folded end up, a friction wheel rotatably mounted on said frame behind said pan and projecting through said opening for urging the signature resting against said pan downwardly, means for driving said friction wheel at the same speed as the delivery table, a pair of spaced parallel extending belts rotatably mounted on said frame for grabbing the downwardly urged signature open end first and passing it therebetween for delivery open end first thereby reversing the position of said signature, one of said belts having a ridged surface and means for driving said belts in opposite directions and at the same speed as the delivery table.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS EDWARD A. SROKA, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 27 l36 

